ECCM15 - 15 TH EUROPEAN CONFERENCE ON COMPOSITE MATERIALS, Venice, Italy, 24-28 June 2012 1 MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF WOVEN NATURAL FIBER REINFORCED COMPOSITES A. Pozzi 1* , R. Sepe 2 1 A-Technology S.p.A., Zona Industriale Ex Indesit Stab. 15 - 80131 Gricignano di Aversa, Italy; 2 Dept. of Materials and Production Engineering - University of Naples Federico II - P.le V. Tecchio, 80 - 80125 Naples, Italy; * e-mail: [email protected]. Keywords: Natural fibers, Mechanical properties, SEM. Abstract Epoxy matrix composites reinforced with woven natural fiber were studied. Composites having fiber volume fraction greater than 55% were prepared by hand lay-up technique. For reinforcement, three different natural fibers were used, jute, flax and silk. The tensile and flexural properties were investigated and the influence of the orientation of fibers on the stiffness were analyzed. It was observed that the tensile and flexural strength of silk composites is almost equal to that of flax composite and 1.98 times that of jute composite. Moreover the stiffness of the silk composites isn’t influenced by orientation of fibers. Morphological examinations were carried out using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). All specimens were coated with a thin layer gold alloy prior to SEM observations. A high voltage of 20 kV was used for making the micrographs. The SEM investigation was used to study the fracture surface of the tensile specimens of the composites samples. The results of this study indicate that using silk fiber as reinforcement could successfully develop a composite material in terms of high strength and stiffness to produce a bio-composites for light applications compared to conventional composites. 1 Introduction Environmental and economical concerns are stimulating research in design and production of innovative materials for aeronautic, railways and automotive industries. Particularly attractive are new materials in which a good part is based on natural renewable resources, preventing further stresses on the environment. Among these materials, Natural Fibers-Reinforced Composites (NFRC) are finding much interest as a substitute for glass or carbon reinforced polymer composites. In fact they are used in technical applications such as the automotive industry, where mechanical properties have to be combined with low weight. Natural fibers have several advantages if compared with other synthetic fibers, glass, or carbon fibers: they are available in abundance and inexpensive compared to other relatively advanced man-made fibers reinforcing factors, including low weight, low cost, low density, high specific properties, nonabrasive processing characteristics, and lack of residues upon incineration. Moreover natural fibers sequester CO 2 from the atmosphere, hence providing an advantageous contribution to the global carbon budget. The easy disposal of natural fiber composites is also important, since they can be easily combusted or composted at the end of their product life cycle. The disadvantages are lower impact strength, higher moisture
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF WOVEN NATURAL FIBER REINFORCED COMPOSITES
May 16, 2023
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